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| WW2 General Every WW2 related discussion besides aviation. |
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| | #1 |
| Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: A Swede living in Glasgow, Scotland
Posts: 15,144
| Island of Open Graves When the 78 Marines of the US V Amphibious Scout Company landed on the Apamama islands, they discovered their enemy lying dead in the bottom of open graves. Apamama is a group of six tiny islands lying some 75 miles south-east of the island of Tarawa. It was once home to the Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson, who moved there to try and better cope with tuberculosis. In 1942, the Japanese occupied the islands leaving a garrison of 25 troops. Later, as the tide turned in the Pacific war and the US went on the offensive, the 78 Marines were dispatched by submarine to Apamama as part of the larger campaign to capture the island of Tarawa. Supported by the submarine’s deck gun, the Marines assaulted the island in rubber boats. It was there they found the open graves. Eventually, the Marines were able to patch together what had happened by questioning the native islanders. It seems that the Japanese officer had accidentally shot and killed himself while addressing his troops. Deprived of leadership, the Japanese soldiers dug their own graves and then shot themselves.
__________________ ![]() JAN "Felicis Tredecim" "I´m going back to the front to relax" "THE BLACK CATS FLIES TONIGHT" "Find your enemy and shoot him down - everything else is unimportant!" "When you're out of F-8's... You're out of fighters!" ![]() |
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| | #2 |
| Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Canvey Island, Essex
Posts: 4,029
| Shame the whole Japanese army didn't do the same |
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| | #3 |
| Der Crewchief ![]() Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Ansbach, Germany
Posts: 33,152
| Wow, thats pretty stupid if you ask me.
__________________ ![]() fly boy:"isnt that the first jet bomber becasue i have flown one in a flight sim before and i know how it handles"[/I] |
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| | #4 |
| The Pop-Tart Whisperer ![]() Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: South Jersey, United States
Posts: 10,237
| Now thats the way to win a war.
__________________ ![]() "If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it's English, thank a soldier!" http://www.njcacoa.org/ |
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| | #5 |
| Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: New Jersey
Posts: 541
| that's smart.......
__________________ www.airvictorymuseum.org "All right, they're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us... they can't get away this time." V-DUB!!!!!!! My 71 Beetle is now.....in two pieces.... |
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